Miscellaneous unorganized material/KSPR
edit History KSPR originally signed on-the-air March 9, 1983 as Springfield's first independent station. However in 1986, ABC dropped its affiliation with KDEB-TV (now KSFX-TV) and gave it to KSPR. On September 21, 2006, Piedmont Television announced that it would sell KSPR to Perkin Media, LLC. Under the agreement, Schurz Communications took over KSPR's operations under a shared services agreement. It remained at its studios on East Saint Louis Street in Springfield. Perkin Media took over ownership of the station on August 28, 2007. On September 9, the on-air branding was changed to "KSPR ABC". Prior to then, it was branded as "Springfield 33, Where Springfield Comes First" with weather coverage labeled "Where Your Forecast Comes First". For a short period of time, it was branded as "ABC 33". Notable former employees of the station include: Mark Steines (correspondent for Entertainment Tonight), John Brown (former anchor for The Daily Buzz), and Terry Kniess (later became known for perfect showcase bid on The Price is Right). edit Original programming Beginning on April 21, 1989 and ending the same year, KSPR produced and aired The Late Night Horror Show with Count Norlock. This show featured syndicated horror films along with new introductory and interstitial segments featuring a horror host character. Host segments were locally produced and featured local actor Jim Kellett in the role of "Count Norlock", a vampire reminiscent of Count Orlok from the 1922 F. W. Murnau film Nosferatu. Featuring films such as Magic and The Brides of Dracula, The Late Night Horror Show with Count Norlock only lasted one season.1 From 1985 until 1990, Springfield area kids went home after school to watch Sammy's Place on KSPR, an afternoon show hosted by hobo clown "Sammy B. Good". The afternoon program featured cartoons such as He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, She-Ra, Voltron, Transformers, and G.I. Joe. Between cartoons, Sammy featured area kids as in-studio guests and entertained with a number of clown acts and skits. He famously excited the in-studio kids with screams of "Everybody go 'yeaaaa'!" which would be echoed in unison. edit News operation Jim Kellet in the role of "Count Norlock".On November 1, 2009, KSPR moved into KYTV's newly renovated facilities and began airing its local broadcasts in high definition from a secondary set. The two stations maintain separate news departments. KSPR also added a gray and black "33" to its logo. Unlike most ABC affiliates in the Central Time Zone, it does not air local news weeknights at 5, but at 4. edit Newscast titles *''Channel 33 News'' (1983-1986) *''33 Eyewitness News'' (1986-1989) *''NewsTeam 33'' (1989-1991 and 1993-1996) *''33 Newstime'' (1991-1993) *''News 33'' (1996-1999) *''ABC 33 News'' (1999-2003) *''Springfield 33 News'' (2003-September 2007) *''KSPR News'' (September 2007-present) edit Station slogans *"Where Springfield Comes First." (2004-2007, general) *"Where Your Forecast Comes First." (2004-2007, weather) *"Covering Our Community" (2007-present) edit News team Anchors *Kyle Bosch - weekday mornings *Christine Daues - weeknights at 4, and 6 *Michelle Sherwood - weeknights at 4, and 10 *Joe Daues - weeknights at 4, 6 and 10 *Joanna Small - weekends and weeknight reporter KSPR Storm Vision Meteorologists *Kevin Lighty (AMS and NWA Seals of Approval) - Chief seen Sunday through Thursday nights (2009 Missouri Broadcasters Association Best Weathercast) *Natalie Nunn - weekday mornings *Craig Carnesi (Certified Broadcast Meteorologist/AMS-CBM Seal of Approval) - Friday and Saturday (2010 Missouri Broadcasters Association Best Weathercast) Sports *Whitney Scott - Director seen weeknights at 6 and 10 *Mike Scott - weekends Reporters *Doug Magditch - photographer *Will Carter *Emily Rittman edit Former on-air staff Title sequence from The Late Night Horror Show.*Dave Akerly Sports Anchor *Doug Aronson *Brooke Borden *John Brown *Margaret Burnquist *Kristi Capel *CJ Cassidy *Eric Chaloux *Donna Cline *Zach Daniel *Tim Drum *Dave Dunn *Danielle Elliott *Ray Foreman *Lori Fullbright *Susan Harding *Mark Harmon Sports Anchor *Erin Hartness *Ron Hearst *Ralph Hipp *Daniel Holdge *Jasmine Huda *Jerry Jacob *Kathy Jones *Karen Kelly *Terry Kniess - meteorologist (famous for perfect bid on The Price is Right Showcase Showdown) *Mark Kulda *Sonia Kullmann *Scott Lane *Kirk Mason *Scott Noll (now at WREG-TV) *Theresa Petry *Ray Preston (now at KMOV-TV) *Lori Schell *Bob Snell (now at KAIT-TV) *Mark Steines *Steve Tommey *Traci Turner edit References #'^' Boggs, Jeffrey (Summer 2004), "Monster Memories of Dr. Dead and Count Norlock", Scary Monsters Yearbook 2004 (Monster Memories #12): pgs. 25–27, http://www.scarymonstersmag.com/ edit External links *KSPR channel 19 *KSPR mobile *KYTV channel 44 *Query the FCC's TV station database for KSPR